Sliding-door support



(No Model.) I y 2 Sheets-Sheet A1.` J. R. PAY'SON, JI.

SLIOINO DOOR SUPPORT.

(NO Moden.) 2 sheets-sheen 2.I J. R. PAYSON, J1".

SLIDI'NG DOOR SUPPORT.

No. 426,314... BatentedApr. 22, 1890.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH R. PAYSON, JR.,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

S'LAIDING-DOOR SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 426,314, dated April22, 1890.

Application filed October l, 1889. Serial No. 325,635. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known thatl, JOSEPH R. PAYSON, Jr., of Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Sliding-Door Supports; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing` is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters oi' referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to devices concerned in the support of, slidingdoors; and it has among its objects, first, to provide a hanger properadapted to render the movement of the door extremely easy, and,secondly, to provide a novel adjustment of a track on which run thewheels concerned in supporting a door.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation ofa hanger containing my improvement as it appears when the door is thrownto one extreme of its movement. Fig. 2 is aview of the hanger as seenwhen viewed in the plane of the door. Fig. 3 illustrates the hanger whenthe door is in mid-position or half-open. Fig. iis a similar view toFig. 3 ofthe hanger, having modied construction. Fig. 5 is a verticalsection in the indirect line 5 5 of Figf/l. Fig. 6 shows in sideelevation my improvement in the adjusta-ble rail of sliding-door-hangingdevices, the housing for the door and rail being broken away. Fig. 7 isavertical section in the line 7 7 of Fig. 6, looking in the direction ofthe arrow applied to said line. Fig. 8 is a vertical section of thetrack-rail in the line S 8 of Fig. 6, showing the adjustable supportingdevices for upholding the rail in side elevation. Fig. 9 illustrates amodification of the adjustable rail seen in Fig. 6. Fig. 10 is avertical section of the rail in the indirect line 10 10 of Fig. 9, thesupporting-bracket being shown in side elevation. Fig. 11 isa verticalsection of the rail in the indirect line 1l 1l of Fig. 9, the bracketbeing shown in side elevation.

First describing the hanger proper, A represents an extensiblearm,consisting of alazytongs composed of metal bars pivoted to eachother in the manner characteristic of this device. As shown in Fig. l,this lazy-tongs provided with a wheel C, which runs on a fixed track D,also in the overhead pocket. For heavy doors two of these lazy-tongsdevices are similarly supported and connected with each door at itsopposite upper corners or otherwise at a suitable distance from eachother. Arranged in the position shown in either the fully-opened orfully-closed position of the door thus suspended the lazytongs A willhave an inclined position in one direction or the other, as illustratedin Fig. 1, and when the door is at its middle position said lazy-ton gswill have the vertical position illustrated by dotted lines in the samefigure.

Theoretically speaking, the track D,which extends an equal distance onboth sides of a vertical line passing through the fixed pivot a', shouldbe perfectly horizontal throughout its length, in order to give motionto the pivot aand to the door in a horizontal line, and the structuremay as a possibility be made of sufcient rigidity and with sutticientlyclose pivot-joints to allow of the track D being so or substantially somade. In practice, however, the lazy-ton gs structure in being extendedto one side or the other of its vertical position will bend to somedegree in supporting the weight of the door, and some degree of freedomwill ordinarily be provided in the pivotal joints of the tongs. Fromtheseconditions results av tendency of the door to settle somewhat inits extreme positions, to 0bviate which it is desirable to make thetrack D somewhat curved or concaved, as shown in Fig. 1, to give asubstantially horizontal line of motion to the pivots a and to the'door.

In Figs. 4 and 5 the extreme upper middle pivot carries the wheel and anintermediate pivot is fixed. This reverses the position of the track Dand the direction of bearing against it, said track in this modificationbe- 'iug placed over the Wheel instead of below it.

erating the screw F the door B may be low-- IOO ered or raised withreference to the pivotal point a; j

In the construction shown the track D and the fixed support for thepivot a are made parts of a single casting D', adapted to be secured byscrews or otherwise to the side wall of the overhead pocket. Thisintegral construction of the pivot-support and track of course insurespermanent and proper relation of the pivot to the track. The track isshown as having a transversely-inclined surface, of which the outer partis the higher. The wheel C is beveled to iit this track, so that underthe weight of the door it keeps its place in the track, and, inconnection with the adjacent pivot of the hanger, tends to keep the doorin a fixed plane.

In connection with doors of considerable weight a track of length equalto or exceeding that of the movement of the door, toget-herwith asupporting wheel or Wheels directly connected with the door and runningon said track, will be desirable as an aid in Sustaining said door. Sucha track is shown at D2 in Figs. G, 7, and 8, in which two wheels C2 areconnected with the door by brackets G and run upon said track D2. Thisfigure also shows two lazy-tongs A, the lower extreme pivots of whichare prolongations of the pivots of the wheels C2, said lazy-tongs thusexerting their supporting force through the brackets G. Obviously thelazy-tongs may be otherwise connected with the door, and it is alsomanifest that a single lazy-tongs may be employed in connection with twowheels C2, as the latter will hold the door in a vertical position,while a single lazy-tongs contribute its support.

connected with the middle of the door will On the other hand, it isequally manifest that in connection with two lazy-tongs connected withthe door at points suitably distant from each other a single wheel C2only between said points may be employed. l

The lazy-tongs A A, when employed in connection with a wheel or WheelsC2 and a track D2, will of course be connected and provided with wheelsin their upper parts, in the manner shown in Fig. l or 4t, and the trackD2 will be so adjusted with respect to its position as to aid thelazy-tongs in upholding the door. This track D2 as a folding-doorsupport, whether used in connection with the lazy tongs or only withwheels C2, has a novel mode of adjustment. For this purpose it ismounted on a pivot d, located at about its middle point, but desirablysemewhat nearer the inner or rear end of the track, which is thatportion of the latter over the rear or innermost part of thedoor-housing. Said track being located over the housing lwhich inclosesthe restricted or open door, the outer end of the track reaches to ornear the door-opening, where it is subject to the action of any suitabledevice for raising or lowering its adjacent end. The adjusting p deviceillustrated for this purpose consists of a bracket H, provided with anupwardlya screw h, threaded through the bottom of the bracket, so as tobear at its upper ,end against the-under surface of the track-rail.

when the pivot d is beyond the middle of' the door when open, the Weightof the door in all of its positions will hold the ltrack in contact withthe adj usting-screw 7i, so that such simple bearing of the adjusting-screw against the bottom of the track-rail will serve for theadjustment proposed. If the pivot d be otherwise placed, the adjlisting-screw should be otherwise connected with the rail in an obviousmanner. The separate extension D3 of the rail D2, occupying the pocketover the door.- way, is also vertically adjustable, so as to bring andkeep it in line with the rail D2. Its end adjacent to the rail D2 isdesirably notched to receive a projection p of the latter, as shown, topreserve continuity of their upper surfaces, and the opposite end oflsaid trackextension is sustained by one or more brackets H, havingadjustingscrews h, as illustrated.

The extension-rail D3 is shown provided with .a vertical slot h',through which passes the pin h2, the ends of which are fixed inthebracket at opposite sides of the rail-extension lopen recess, inwhich the track-rail rests, and

as a suitable means for preserving the lengthwise position of saidextension.

' In Figs. 9,10, and l1 the rocking adjustment of the rail D2 upon itspivot d is accomplished by means of inclined surfaces d on the underside of the rail, which bear upon the pins h2, coupled with a slot d2 inthe rail for the passage of the pivot CZ and an inclined screw D4,located in aposition accessible from the doorway. This screw rotates inthe fixed support d3, but is held from longitudinal motion therein by ascrew or pin d4 entering the annular groove d5 in the screw, thethreaded end of the screw taking into a tapped hole in the rail'. Theinclination of the screw d4 is substantially that of the inclinedsurfaces d', and by its rotation one Way or the other slides the raillengthwise, and by the contact of the latter at its inclined surfaceswith the pin or pins h2 causes said rail to rock on its pivot to thedesired position.

The wheel C is of course only an anti-friction form of bearing for thelaterally-movable point of the lazy-tongs, upon which said wheel ismounted, and the track D is only one forni of guiding-support for saidpivot. It is manifest, therefore, that the wheel may be dispensed withand other forms of guides than the track may be used without departurefrom my invention.

It is also manifest that my invention mayl be applied to the lower edgeor margin of a door and to the adjacent portion of a frame therefor, aswell as to the upper portion of the door and frame, as illustrated inthe drawings.

I claim as my inventionl. A sliding-door hanger4 consisting of an IOOIOS

eXtensible arm ixed at one point to the top of a door and at anotherpoint to the top of the door-frame and a guide for a moving,r part ofthe said extensible arin.

2. A sliding-door hanger adapted to be attached to the upper part of adoor and to the door-frame, said hanger consisting of an eX- tensiblearm, Which is free to move on either side of a vertical line passingthrough the point of its attachment to the door-frame, and a guide for amovable pointot said extensible arm.

3. A sliding-door hanger consisting, essentially, of a lazy-tongshaving' a tixed pivot in its upper part and a support for one or more ofits laterally-movable pivots above its connection with the door.

4. In a sliding-door hanger, the combination of a lazy-tongs having afixed pivot and a bearing-Wheel at its upper part and a track for saidwheel, substantially as described.

5. In combination With a door, a lazy-tongs pivoted to the door and to afixed point above the door, a Wheel pivoted to a joint in the centralline of joints of the lazy-tongs, and a track for the Wheel,substantially as described.

6. The combination of a dooi` provided with one or moresupporting-Wheels, a track for said wheel or wheels, a lazy-tongspivoted at its lower end to the door and at its upper end to a fixedsupport, a Wheel pivoted to the lazy-tongs, and a track for thelast-mentioned Wheel.

7. The combination, with a `wheel at the upper part of a sliding doorand a track for said wheel, of a lazy-tongs pivoted at its lower end tothe axis of the Wheel and at its upper part to a fixed support, a Wheelpivoted to the lazy-tongs, and a track for the lastfrnentioned Wheel.

8. An adjustable overhead track tor a sliding door, supported above thedoor-housing on a pivot at a point between its ends, and an adjustingdevice for rocking the track upon its pivot, located at the end of saidtrack adjacent.to the doorway.

9. The rocking and longitudinally--niovable overhead track for a slidingdoor, provided with one' or more inclined surfaces on its under side,combined with a support or supports upon which said inclined surface orsurfaces resty and means for giving,` length- Wise motion to the track.

In testimony that I claim the' foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature' in presence of two Witnesses.

JOSEPH R. PAYSON, JR.

YVitnesses:

M. E. DAYTON, C. CLARENCE PooLE.

